The World Is My Playground
by KyraEleison
Summary: The only way to conquer desire is to give in to it. Rated M for reasons. (Joe x OC) (Joe x Cameron)
1. Everything is bigger in Texas

**Let's do this, guys.**

**Please read.**

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**Please enjoy.**

* * *

**Everything is bigger in Texas**

There's nothing more to do. If there must be a winner, naturally there must be a loser, too. IBM could've sent God himself, they still couldn't stand a chance. It's fascinating how differently people react to defeat. You watch their faces and you can clearly see as the realization sinks in. Fighting is part of the human nature. But at one pont or another they give up.

The room is silent. Whatever the people – _sent by the mighty company of IBM_ – thought before they stepped into this building, it's time for them to reconsider. They put on their nice suits, got into their fancy cars and was fool enough to think they can do whatever they want. What they didn't know was that Cardiff Electronics just hit the jackpot.

On the winning side of the table, Lorena Maze leans back in her chair, grinning like a sated beast. Gordon's still looking nervous. He can't read between the lines. It's not a criterion to his profession, . He's restlessly prancing around with his legs under the table.

„I don't know how long you want to continue our little staring contest, but to be honest, I'm starting to get really bored."

Gordon stops moving and looks at the woman. Though she's smiling, her tone sounds serious enough to kick the loser side of the table out of their trance. The bloodthirsty lawyers of IBM must take the walk of shame. They leave without a word.

John Bosworth, director of Cardiff Electrics feels the direct opposite of what he felt a week ago. He's ecstatic.

When he heard the first story about a _„Bull"_ nicknamed lawyer who gave a handful of Apple's jurists a run for their jobs, he got pretty much interested. A friend from New York offered him to ask around and check the availability of that _„Bull"_. John needed someone. Or something. A miracle would've been more than preferable. It took a few days but he received the call he's been waiting for. His miracle was on the way but when it arrived, it looked nothing like he imagined.

The _„Bull"_ was not only a woman, but a woman who was rather easy on the eyes. She preferred form fitting dresses, usually ending just below the knees, never a flashy neck line - leaving all the work for the imagination –, always paired up with ridiculously high heels in which she walked like she was born into. But Lorena was more than just a pretty face. She graduated from Columbia with a summa cum laude degree and at barely thirty, she was more feared by many companies than almost anyone in the business. She got that nickname for a good reason. Her presence made it impossible for her to be ignored and this was exactly her key to every door she wished to open.

They're sitting in a line at the table, while Bosworth steps into the room, unable to hide his happiness from his face. Surprisingly, only Lorena seems to share the same emotions. Gordon looks exhausted. The man is a stress factory. He'd deserve an award for still being alive after all the mental abuse he lays himself to by his own self. He takes off his glasses, his hands slightly shaking.

Cameron's sitting on a chair with her knees drawn to her chin. She's fed up already. She's looking at Joe, trying to catch a glance but he's fixing his eyes on the wall.

Joe MacMillan. He should not only be happy and satisfied with the outcome of this whole circus but at least grateful. Yet, his expression mirrors something utterly different. Lorena breaks the silence.

„Is this how you celebrate in Texas? I'm more than disappointed. Next time, I'd rather visit a funeral."

Cameron jumps up and storms out of the door without a word. She's offended and tired. She was bossed around all day long, other people told her what to do, what to say. She's nothing but a puppet. She blames the only person possible. The same person who seems to be fairly interested in her for ten minutes, than forgetting about her whole existence for who knows how long and than put it back again on repeat.

Gordon is unsure of what his next move should be. He's obviously feeling uncomfortable but he's not yet ready to draw up why. He needs to figure himself out.

Bosworth gives up. He can't force a good mood, he rather leaves. „Lorena, very nice job. I hope we can talk about your future plans at Cardiff. If it wasn't for you, IBM would've butchered us." The slight reproach in his voice goes undoubtedly for Joe.

Lorena feels the need to provoke something out of the peeved manchild. The guy is a mistery wrapped into at least ten layers of crazy, hiding behind a mask of a dick. As irritating as he is, this is still the type of puzzle that tickles the mind to be solved.

„I can't help but realize, how disappointed you look. I kind of wonder why."

He answers without looking at her. „I was hoping for a little more excitement."

So this is how he wants to play. He was feeling left out the whole time while Lorena took the attention and all the glory with it. Now he's acting like she's not even there. Pathetic, but works. It's not even a question if he found the right spot to hit. They are miserably alike.

„I didn't know it was your show I was stealing, Joe. Should I apologize?" She gets nothing but a slight headshake and a flagrant smirk. She's clenching her fists. First mistake, Ms. Haze. She wanted to provoke him but walked into his game instead.

Lorena stands up, trying to look like she's all calm. She pushes the two empty chairs between them out of the way and stands before the man. He's sitting with his arms crossed on his chest, the light blue shirt tightens on his shoulders, still refusing to make eye contact. He really is a grandiose specimen of his kind. He's played this game before, that's for sure.

„I'm deeply sorry. Did I bore much?" her sarcastic tone puts a grimace on his face.

„Not more than the usual." he slightly strokes her thighs through the delicate fabric of her dress while he's standing up. Grabbing Lorena by her shoulders he makes her back up against the wall.

She's more than impressed. After all those years she spent at different offices with different type of dicks who called themselves man, no one ever dared to lay a single fingertip on her. Yet, here's this arrogant prick, who thinks he can do whatever he likes to her after barely a week of acquaintance.

Placing his hands on the wall next to both sides of her face, he bends down a bit so their eyes are on the same level. His height is intimidating and so is the width of his shoulders. He leans unnecessarily close to her face, his grin is growing. He looks so pleased with himself.

Lorena couldn't ask for a more perfect moment to grab his most sensitive part with her hand, not specifically gently. Watching his self-sufficient smile melting away from his face is gilding her whole day. It's her time to grin. Especially when feeling his reaction to her moderately painful touch. He's rapidly hardening. She purrs into his ear.

„If I were you, I would watch what I say." He's closing his eyes, inhaling sharply. At this point, he's ready for anything. She giggles and her hot breath sends an electric shock through his spine.

Who's game is it now? Time to score, Ms. Maze.

Lorena lets go of his member, pushing him away with a firm move. Before leaving him alone, she turns back from the door.

„You know, Joe, it _really_ is bigger in Texas."


	2. RESPECT

**R.E.S.P.E.C.T.**

Joe rips the door open and after stepping into Lorena's office, he shuts it in full fling. It takes all of his concentration not to start yelling right away. The woman's sitting at her desk, twitching a little by the unexpected sound. She looks up from a pile of papers, the pen stops moving in her hand. She takes notice of the long crack on the glass door. Her eyes wonder from the damaged door to Joe.

„Welcome to my little nest. I would've invited you over to take a look but as far as I can see it, you've already invited yourself."

„Are you fucking kidding me?" He reaches her desk with just three ridiculously long steps, towering above her.

„Calm down." She points at a chair. „Here, have a seat and tell me what's hurting your little heart."

Joe laughs with disbelief. „Don't even start it, I don't have time for your bullshit. Are you questioning my decisions?"

„No, of course not. I'm not questioning them. I simply disagree with them. Especially the ones you make about me." The secret weapon of Lorena. She can offend anyone while using the calmest tone humanly possible. It drives people wild rapidly and Joe is obviously not an exception.

„You bitch. You go behind my back and make it look like my words mean nothing at all? I told you to stay out of it, didn't I? So you ran to Bosworth? That's how you do it? That's your method? Was flashing your panties enough or did you have to make more effort to change his mind?" He's practicly shouting at the woman, his hands are shaking. The perfectly set hair - that usually makes all the secretaries in the building losing their wet panties – now looks somewhat tousled, his eyes are burning. He's a magnificent sight.

Satisfied with the effect she made, Lorena stands up from her desk, steps in front of the raging man almost pushing herself to him. The sarcastic smile she generally spares for Joe is nowhere to be find.

„Shut up! Just shut up! Don't you ever dare talking to me in that tone again and skip to the point where you finally spit out what the fuck do you want!"

„Here is what I want: I want you to respect me. Because I'm..." Lorena interrupts.

„I know who you are. So what? Respect is not something you get for free. You don't earn it with the title on your nameboard. You want respect? Fine. Show me something I can respect you for. Oh, and just a hint: throwing a tantrum in my office will definitely not do the job." She turns around, sits back in her chair. She picks up her pen and goes back to work. Joe forgets to breath for a few moments. He's stunned. Lorena's not finished just yet. „Let's forget about how you made an ass of yourself and meet me at the elevator in an hour. And for now, please close the door behind you and don't forget to call someone to fix that shit."

„Am I thrown out?"

„See you in 58 minutes, Joe."

The plan was good and simple. Maybe too simple to be true. Their attempt to make LouLu Lutherford provide the money Cardiff needs, seems to fail miserably. Bosworth is really fine with words but this time, it might be far from enough. Joe stuggles through the whole evening. His dislike towards their host makes everything he puts in his mouth go bitter. Even Lorena's presence doesn't seem to bother him anymore. He's so done with making dumb people understand what his idea is about.

By the end of dinner, they can officially call their visit a failure. When Joe disappears from the table Lorena looks questioningly at Bosworth. He assures her, he doesn't have a clue what's going on. Lorena excuses herself and leaves the dining room. She walks around the empty place. It seems like every single guest is enjoying the dessert at the table except for her and Joe.

She finds him a couple minutes later. Joe's having a very different kind of dessert after dinner right at the middle of the wine cellar. Lorena bites her lips when she finally steps into the room, unable to take her eyes off of Joe using his tongue expertly on the lucky guy. LouLu's boyfriend moans with pleasure. The moment Joe takes notice of her from the corner of his eye, she grins and leaves them alone as quietly as she arrived. On her way back, she grabs a full glass from a table. She needs something to cool her down. She's too turned up for her own good.

When Joe steps out on the huge porch of the Lutherford Mansion, the first thing he acknowledges is Lorena sitting in a deck chair, holding a huge glass of white wine in her hands, legs crossed. For the very first time in years, he just wants to run away. But it's too late. It takes less than a millisecond for Lorena to realize she's not alone. As much as Joe wishes he could turn around and leave, he can't do that. He never does. Backing out of a situation without a win is never an option. If the woman thinks she can daunt him like this, she must be out of her mind.

Lorena can clearly feel the hesitation and she's having more fun than ever before since their arrival. At first she thought this event was predestined to be boring. What a nice change of things.

Joe takes his jacket off and drops it on the back of a deck chair next to the woman before flinging down to it. He lays casually, it's almost believable. Lorena stays speechless. She's doing it on purpose. The tension coming from the man is hardly ignorable. Joe inhales deeply and before he could decide if he should strangle the irritating lawyer or rather drown her in that wine she turns to face him and raises her glass.

„Congratulations, Mr. MacMillan! Bosworth told me about the good news. You got the money." She sips from the wine. „What a surprise. Can I ask you something? Are you the boy or the girl, Joe?" he gives her an invidious smile. „Come on, don't give me that look. Do you scorn me for being curious?"

„Lorena, I scorn you for so much more than just being curious."

„Don't hurt my feelings, Joe. Instead, tell me if you do it a lot? Or just occasionally? Only for business reasons or maybe even for fun? Oh, and does Cameron know about this hobby of yours?"

Joe's driving like a lunatic. He won. He got what he wanted but it all means nothing since he got defeated by Lorena Maze. His muscles are so tense it hurts. When he steps out of the elevator and reaches for the door of his apartment, it's already unlocked.

He finds Cameron in his living room with her feet on the table. Good, she got the message. She's here as he wanter her to be.

„What do..." She hasn't got a chance to finish her first sentence. Joe rushes over her and pulls her up by the collar of her jacket. His kiss is violent and he bites her lower lip so harshly, it starts bleeding. Cameron pushes him away and wipes the blood off her lips with the back of her hand. She looks terrified. Joe can't contain his rage anymore. He grabs her up, pushes her agains the wall with his full weight. She's so small and fragile in his arms, so vulnerable. She's breathing heavily, her legs are on his waist. It's always the same thing. She hates him so much, yet wants him so badly she gets wet by a single touch of his fingertip. But today is different. Cameron never saw him like this before. He looks equally wicked and desirable. He wants her so badly, it makes her unable to take her hands off of him. She's wishing she could have more hands to touch him, stroke him, grab him. With a single move, he rips her clothes from her body. Her petite figure is so small comparing to his. Joe grabs her and rushes into the bedroom. He drops her down to the bed and frees himself from his clothes. His erection is massive. Cameron drops her head back in anticipation. He barely lingers for a second at her entrance before pushing himself all the way inside. She's ecstatic. She wants to scream with delight but it's so good even her voice gets lost. Joe pins her hands down above her head while pounding her furiously. When closing his eyes, he sees nothing but Lorena biting her lips in the wine cellar. The bitch.

They lay beside each other, panting. Joe turns to Cameron, stroking some hair out of her face.

„Do you respect me?" She looks at him with her doll like blue eyes, only hesitating for a blink.

„I do."


	3. The Lone Star State

The arrival of the journalist takes everyone by surprise. Though no one heard a word about him planning a visitation at Cardiff, nobody needs to ask who made it possible for him to step right in the middle of their project. Joe didn't considered it as an important factor to share his plans with anyone. He just needs a good enough reason to make people talk about his genius and let the world hear about Joe MacMillan's name.

The plan is good. If the article would be written the next chapter of Cardiff's story could begin right away. The only problem is, _Wall Street Quarterly_ journalist, Ron Kane is not really interested in the story and he doesn't even try to make a secret about it. His only reason to accept the invite was the rumour he heard about their lawyer riding roughshod over _IBM_. He knew Lorena Maze, he was writing about her winning cases before and it seemed interesting why whould someone as successful as her move from New York to a no name company in Texas.

Things are quickly going from bad to worse when Cameron's fresh out of the oven bios code gets accidently deleted. She spent days and nights working on it and however hard she tries, she can not bring it back. Panic's spreading quickly.

Gordon feels like the entire world is closing around him. He worked too hard to let everything go now. He wants to make it this time, he needs to get somewhere with his life. He runs straight to Cameron's filthy basement office. The place Gordon never ever felt the need to visit before.

Joe takes a minute to get himself together. It all happens too often with him. He used to feel like he was favoured by the Gods but ever since Lorena Maze appeared in his life, it seems like he's running out of luck. His frustration grows minute by minute. Before he could join Gordon to make an attempt to save the day, he have to make sure about what kind of story he wants to read about.

Joe walks into Lorena's office to find her sitting in an arm-chair, her long legs in their usual position, crossed; her red shoes are not on her feet. She's reading the latest issue of the Wall Street Quarterly. She doesn't even look up from the magazine. Instead, she turns a page and keeps on reading.

"Put your shoes on and find Kane. We lost the bios." Joe's tone is impatient. The simple sight of the woman makes him lose his temper. It's a brand new problem for him and still haven't figured out how to handle it.

Lorena keeps on reading. "Why should I care?" Her disinterest hits him on the face.

"Because if it's falling apart now, if I fail I take you with me. Think about your favourite thing in the world: your reputation."

She can't help but smile and turns another page. "Are you threatening me?"

Joe steps closer to her. "It's not a threat, it's a promise."

She closes the magazine and drops it on her desk, finally looking at the man. "Wow, Joe. I'm flattered. You must be practicing these speeches a lot." Her sarcastic tone makes wonders on people. Especially on him.

Joe doesn't get a chance to say another word. One of Gordon't colleages at the design team rushes into Lorena's office informing them about the most important topics: A) the bios is gone indeed, B) Cameron is raging like a lunatic and C) Gordon's wife, Donna's arrived and she's their only chance to find a solution to prevent catastrophy.

Lorena slips her feet into her shoes and with a smirk on her face, leaves the room behind the two men.

* * *

Lorena finds Cameron in the garage of the building. She's sitting in the back of on an old, rusty pickup. It's rightful owner probably forgot about it about a million years ago and left the old car in that very place to rot. Before walking in, Lorena stands by the door for a few minutes, taking her time and watching every move of the young programmer. She's crying. You know the feeling when you're so stressed out that you eighter want to scream or just ugly cry?

„Can I disturb you?" The question might have been asked but she doesn't need to hear the answer for it. She just walks in. Cameron's trying hard to rearrange her face, wiping her tears off with the frazzled sleeves of her shirt. She looks miserable.

„What do you want?" Being kind or polite is not something she learned. Her tacky demeanour makes the newly arrived companion suppress a smile.

„I would join you and sit down but I'm not properly dressed for that, I'm afraid." She comes with her trademark again. She doesn't even have to say anything insulting to score. Her tone is more than enough.

„Do you seriously think I give a shit about your fancy wardrobe?" Lorena gets exactly the reaction she was waiting for.

„Cameron, Cameron. You are too predictable. Devoid of surprises, life means absolutely nothing." She walks towards the old car and without any difficulties she's getting on the back and sits next to Cameron. Her high waisted, black pencil skirt might survive this move - thanks to the long slit on the back – but the white form fitting blouse will definitely be eaten by rust and dirt.

„What the hell do you want?"

„Provide you company. Don't get me wrong, but as far I can see, you're not the most popular person in here." Lorena can feel the vibes coming from the girl. She could write a thesis for her doctor's degree if she wanted to but she wants something completely different. Before saying another word, she gives Cameron the time to calm down. „You're craving for support, naturally. But you're craving it from the worst possible place. And I can guarantee that you won't get it." She speaks softly, the truth is enough to turn the knife in her heart.

„I don't need your fucking speech. I don't need it from any of you!" Cameron must learn how to control her emotions.

„Everything will be fine, it's not your fault. But you better get yourself together, otherwise people might think you're unprofessional. And I'm sure you don't want that, do you?"

„What is this? Female solidarity?" Lorena laughs at the question and it makes the lump in Cameron's throat grow bigger.

„Absolutely not. I just want to tell you not to let anybody crop your feathers down. It might turn you into something you never wanted to be."

„You must know about it. Walking around in these shoes all day must be really fucking hard."

„Let me give you an advice: never dress for the idiots around you, Cameron. Look at me! I know exactly who I am. I don't wake up in the morning thinking about how hard should I try to give them a boner in order to get what I want. Do you wake up in the morning thinking about what you should do to make them take notice of you? Because I'm almost certain you do." They're staring at each other for seconds. „It's time to figure out who the real Cameron Howe is."

"Your full time job is to make people's life miserable." As much as the programmer wants to sound confident, she's failing.

„My whole life is about pushing the limits."

„Yeah, other people's limits." Lorena leans closer to her face.

„Every now and then you need someone to knock you over that line. Is it such a bad thing? Otherwise, you might stuck stomping around the same place for eternity."

Joe can barely believe his eyes when he finds the two women together sitting in familiar nearness. After Cameron disappeared from her place nobody had time to even care. If it wasn't enough that they needed a miracle to get the bios codes back, the journalist appeared in the basement and sticked with them until Donna was sure she can save the day. His eyes sold him out before he could tell Joe he'll get the article. After all this, Joe is left with a victory and a defeat, again. He gave an order and Lorena disregarded it, again. Instead of doing what she was told, she's chatting with Cameron about who knows what and considering the happening of the last few weeks, she's got too many aces in her hands and she's not afraid to play hard.

"We got the code. Cameron, go back to Gordon and Lorena, I need to have a have a word with you." Joe steps into the garage without a warning and his confidence might be believable for the young girl but he can't fool the lawyer.

Lorena follows him outside and as soon as they are far enough from Cameron, she gives him a menacing look.

„You need to have a word with me? Who are you? My father?"

„What are you doing?" He seems unreasonably irritated.

„What makes you think you can interrogate me like this?" Joe tightens his grip around her wrists. He needs to restrain himself from using too much pressure on her. Lorena looks down on their hands, Joe's palms are huge comparing to hers.

„You better let me go."

„Tell me what you're planning!" The thoughts in his head are putting him up for a rollercoaster ride. If he could just grab her somewhere else, he could make her beg. Her throat would seem like a good choice.

„I can assure you, I have no idea what you're talking about. Aren't you a little paranoid lately? Anywhere you turn you see my evil plans unfolding against you." Her intetions to free her wrists are anything but successful. „You're not half as entertaining as you'd wish to be. Why would I invest my energy in plotting against you?"

„Where's Kane?"

„You should know. He's your guest after all." Lorena smiles with her eyes wide open.

"He's already gone. You left him alone and believe it or not, he found us in the basement and assisted through the whole time."

"Aren't you happy with the outcome?"

Joe tightents his grip even more. "Oh, I completely am. But I'm not happy with you ignoring my orders. If you let me down one more time, I might have to step up more forcibly."

* * *

Before leaving the building for the night, Lorena makes a visit at Joe's office. She's not knocking. She simply just goes inside. He's doing some paperwork at his desk. His tie is gone, his shirt is unbuttoned on the top, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He follows her with his eyes until she stops at the other side of his table.

"I wanted to congratulate you. First, your face will be all over the pages and people will absorb every single word that came out of your mouth while giving the interview. Second, your performance was magnificient out there. Gordon went home like a champion and you managed to make an even bigger idiot out of Cameron. You almost bought me. Too bad I already knew how the trick was made. It always ruins the magic for me." Joe made up the whole show. She needed not more than five minutes to figure it out.

"Magic is not real. Illusion is."

"Big words from a juggler. Besides, you're a horrible liar."

He puts the pen down, leaning back in his chair. He's impressed. She figured him out, again.

"How can you tell if I'm lying?"

"It's easier than you'd think. Whenever you open your mouth I know you do." Her expression is misterious. "Let me close the door."

After shutting the entrance to his office she walks back to the table, never taking her eyes off of the man. "Touch or taste, Joe?"

Studying her face, he stands up in slow motion. Her ironic little smile is vibrating on her lips, she could be serious or she could be playing. She's unreadable.

„My choice, your game" He's standing in front of her, lifting his brows questioningly.

„It's not a game. More of an offer. You can take it or you can leave it." Her pupils are dilated, she doesn't even take the time to blink. She's not kidding.

Joe can't hide his grin. He's absolutely aware of how much of a game this is. They're both players, after all. He takes a step back from her to prove he's accepting the challenge.

"I might need to know what kind of rules apply for this offer of yours."

"Very simple rules. You eighter use your hands or your mouth. But you can only choose one. I will let you pick this time."

"And what if I break the rules?"

"Well, you lose."

"So this really is a game." He licks his lips in anticipation. She looks more delicious than a plate of strawberries.

"Why do you think you can win?" Joe strides closer to her.

"I have something you completely lack of."

"What would that be?"

Lorena laughs. "Self-control."

Joe doesn't find it necesarry to keep the distance anymore. He nods approvingly, showing both his hands to Lorena before putting them on the table. "Self-control. We shall see."

He bends down to the woman and without any question he bites her lower lip, making her open her mouth. Her lips are too soft to be true. Joe's tongue slips inside and the intensity of the kiss makes her moan into his mouth. She would wrap her legs around his waist but it's impossible, her tight skirt won't let her do it, not to mention the feeling of his hard cock pressing into her lower abdomen; keeping her hands pressed onto the table is causing her physical pain. Joe traces her lips around with his tonge before making his way to taste every single inch of her exposed skin. It's not much. But at this point, nothing would be enough. She tastes devine, better than he ever dared to imagine. His body presses into Lorena's, feeling her muscles clenching as they're grinding on each other.

Joe whispers into her ears. "I would check it myself but I don't want to kick up the rules, so tell me how wet you are?" It takes a lot of energy for her not to grab his hair and draw his head back like she wants to. Her voice is hoarse.

"I wish you could feel it, it's out of this world..."

"Turn around." The first order given by Joe that Lorena follows.

With their hands still pushed to the table board he makes her bend down. His erection is so huge it's almost pikes through his clothes. The slit on the back of her skirt rides up with every move and when it's high enough they can feel each other even closer. They moan with pleasure at the same time. On the nape of her neck, Joe alternates kisses with small bites, his hot breath burns like fire.

They're both aching to be touched and grabbed, but both of them are waiting for the other one to make the move. And by that lose the game.

"...please..." Lorena's close to beg him. She can barely take the teasing anymore, she's dripping wet, she needs to feel him inside of her.

"What happened to your self-control?" Joe sounds hoarse as well but his words drag Lorena back to reality and back to her mind. She straightens up, pushing Joe away with her body, still being aware of not to touch him with her hands at all, trying hard to find her breath again.

Leaning forward to him, she speaks without her usual smile. "Fuck you, Joe."


End file.
